1. Outline Mary Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ Study and Discuss How This Has Influenced Our Understanding of the Importance of a Child’s Attachment to the Primary Caregiver.

1. Outline Mary Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ Study and Discuss How This Has Influenced Our Understanding of the Importance of a Child’s Attachment to the Primary Caregiver.

1523 WordsNov 22nd, 20127 Pages

Outline Mary Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’ study and discuss how this has influenced our understanding of the importance of a child’s attachment to the primary caregiver.

In 1970 Mary Ainsworth expanded greatly upon Bowblys original work and devised an experiment called the Strange situation. The study focused on the behaviour ,in relation to attachment, of infants who were 12-18 months of age when their mother left the purpose built lab play room. The infants were watched through video cameras in the laboratory. The laboratory had two chairs in it and the play area with age appropriate toys. There are eight stages. Stage one: The mother and her baby enter the lab. The mother sits down and reads a magazine while the baby explores.…show more content…

They settled back down quickly. They treated the stranger differently to their mother. 70% of the babies were in the type B category.
Insecure-Resistant infants ( Type C attachments) : They were upset at separation but didn't easily accept comfort when their mother returned. They rejected their mother's attempts to comfort them. They appeared to expect a difficult relationship and couldn't seem to decide whether they wanted closeness or distance, alternating between both. 15% of the infants had this type of attachment.
Disorganised-Insecure attachment ( Type D attachments) : Later, researchers Main and Solomn (1986) added a fourth style based upon their own research. These infants displayed a lack of consistent coherent behaviour. They seems apprehensive and confused.

Theories about the bond between the child, its primary caregiver and its impact on child development had been numerous over the 20th century, yet nothing of scientific foundations could be said with regard to child-parent relationships and its effects, be they positive or negative. This was until John Bowlby developed his theory about attachment and Mary Ainsworth developed a method for assessing infant attachment, the strange situation. The strange situation has influenced our understanding of the importance of attachment between a child and its primary caregiver by giving us perspective on how the type of care given up to the first 18 months can set a precedent on the

Discuss how theories of human growth and development can help understand human behaviour.
Human growth and development is studied and researched with differing perspectives. There are many ways human growth and development can be looked at. Certain disciplines, such as, biology, psychology and sociology all have opposing viewpoints on the subject. The psychological viewpoint concentrates on the different processes of the mind, whereas, the biological approach is centred on genetics and environmental…

Attachment is the emotional bond created by a child with their primary caregiver, which is normally the mother. An example of attachment would be if the mother left the baby, and the baby cries from her absence. The connection normally begins when the child is around six months of age. It’s key for infants to develop. Babies aren’t comfortable away from their mothers. It varies around the world, but it is still very important no matter where the infant is from. It is mainly studied. (Child & Adolescent…

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Attachment is defined as the bond that is formed between an infant and a primary caregiver and the reaction an infant has during separation when reuniting with his/her primary caregiver (Lee, 2003). Since parents, biology, and culture influence attachment, children will experience different effects and results based on how attachment develops.
In 1964, Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson conducted a study in which they studied babies and developed a sequential progression of attachment. Indiscriminate…

an essential aspect in early childhood education. This essay is going to discuss the theories of three human development theorists, Urie Bronfenbrenner, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth’s. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory is concerned with family, cultural and social influences and all the other environmental elements. Bowlby’s Attachment theory and Stages of attachment and Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” research which breaks down attachment into three types are related to the relationship…

Infant attachment is the bond between an infant and their caregivers. An infant’s early attachment to their primary caregiver (PCG) is often seen as the foundation for all future development (Fairbairn, 1952). Individual difference perspectives have focused greatly on the predictive power of attachment because parents want to raise healthy, well-adjusted, normal children and are often concerned about the extent to which their parental upbringing skills can impact their child’s future. Attachment theory…

The formation of secure attachments with the primary caregiver is thought to be of great significance by John Bowlby, who believed that the infant was completely reliant on the caregiver to care and provide for them (as cited in Psychology, Martin, Carlson & Buskist). Those children with sensitive caregivers would grow up to be more confident and developed in all aspects of life, for example forming relationships in later life. Those with unresponsive caregivers would see the world as unpredictable…

This essay will compare and contrast the work of psychologists Harry Harlow and Mary Ainsworth. To compare and contrast will be to emphasise the similarities and differences of both Harlow and Ainsworth’s work on understanding attachment, to which they have both made great contribution. Attachment refers to the mutually affectionate developing bond between a mother and any other caregiver (Custance 2010). It is a bond in which the infant sees the caregiver as a protective and security figure. Failing…

Contrast the work of Harry Harlow and Mary Ainsworth on understanding attachment
‘Attachment’ is a lasting secure and positive feeling that bonds one person to another, one of the strongest forms of attachment is thought to develop between a mother and child. Many psychologist, sociologist, physicians and psychoanalysts have sought to explore the fundamental nature of attachment and how it had evolved. Within this essay I shall examine
• The origins of attachment
• Psychologist who seek to measure…

children form an attachment to their parents in the best interest of survival. Therefore, in a well functioning parent-infant relationship, infants learn to seek their parents in frightening situations and use them as a secure base (Hesse, 2014). However, Mary Ainsworth exemplifies that this is not the case for all infants. In the Strange Situation Study, Mary Ainsworth discovered three fundamental attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. A fourth attachment style was later…

Abundant research has been conducted with reference to parenting, attachment, and their effects on a child’s personality. The most notable research is credited to Mary Ainsworth, John Bowlby, and Harry Harlow. These behavioral scientists summarize that a child’s attachment style coupled with the parenting style of a caregiver can have long-term effects that are capable of impacting a child’s behavior and personality.
John Bowlby was a British psychoanalyst, medical doctor, and war veteran credited…